If you’ve ever attended a football game at Sanford Stadium on the University of Georgia’s (UGA) Athens campus, you know the sound. It’s the familiar clang, clang, clang that accompanies a Bulldog victory. As far back as the 1890’s, students, alumni and fans have lined up to ring the bell at the Chapel on the university’s North Campus to proclaim gridiron wins.
According to the university’s library, bell ringing is one of UGA’s oldest customs. The earliest reference to the Chapel bell being rung in celebration of a victory can be found in the Red & Black student newspaper on Dec. 1, 1894. A week earlier, on Nov. 24, 1894, the school’s football team defeated archrival Auburn 10-8 in Atlanta. When the team arrived on campus following their success, fans celebrated with a brass band, bonfire and bell ringing. References to the bell being rung in celebration of victories became common after this.
Good vibrations
This season, Walton Gas Champions for Charity is adding to the good vibrations of the bell ringing to benefit some Georgia nonprofit organizations. Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Foundation, Camp Twin Lakes and Annandale Village will reap the rewards each time the Bulldogs notch a win in the 2024 gridiron season. Walton Gas is donating $1,000 for each regular season win and adding an additional $5,000 for bowl game victories.
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Foundation, Camp Twin Lakes and Annandale Village will reap the rewards each time the
Bulldogs notch a win in the 2024 gridiron season.
The donation is supplemented by contributions from new Walton Gas customers. Every new customer can choose between receiving a $25 bill credit or donating that amount to Champions for Charity. Each customer donation is matched by Walton Gas, meaning another $50 is added to the season’s Champions for Charity contribution. This year’s total will be finalized after May 30, 2025, the last day of the giving period.
A winning lineup
This year’s Champions for Charities lineup includes three high-impact organizations serving Georgians.
Annandale Village is the only nonprofit residential community in the entire southeastern U.S. that serves adults with developmental disabilities and acquired brain injuries at all levels of care throughout an individual’s lifetime. The community is in Suwanee.
Camp Twin Lakes annually serves nearly 10,000 of Georgia’s children and young adults with serious illnesses, disabilities and other life challenges via therapeutic camp programming. The Walton Gas donation supports camper scholarships that subsidize the cost of attendance at weeklong overnight camping programs in the summer and weekend retreats for families at three sites in Rutledge and Winder.
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) Foundation supports Georgia’s leading pediatric healthcare provider that serves young patients at three hospitals and multiple neighborhood locations. CHOA, which is consistently ranked among the top children’s hospitals in the U.S., provides Georgians access to more than 2,100 pediatric physicians and allied health practitioners across more than 60 pediatric programs.
Your vote rings the bell
Every Walton Gas customer can get in on the giving action by casting an electronic vote for their favorite among the three organizations vying for a portion of the Champions for Charity contribution. The season’s total donations will be divided across the three charities based on customers’ votes.
Voting for the 2024 season is already underway. Cast your vote at waltongas.com/uga. Voting concludes with the Bulldogs’ final post-season game.
Every vote rings the bell on another donation. (And here’s a little secret….You can vote as many times as you like, so vote early and often for your favorite charity!)
The results are in
During an upcoming Georgia Bulldogs home game, representatives of Walton Gas will head to Sanford Stadium’s 50-yard line to officially present checks resulting from the 2023-2024 Champions for Charity donations. Based on voting results, the three organizations are splitting a total of $56,000.
Camp Twin Lakes was last season’s top vote-getter. As a result, the nonprofit receives a check for $22,000. Annandale Village and the CHOA Foundation will each get a $12,000 donation.
Since 2013, when the program started, Walton Gas and its customers have contributed $395,000 to charities that collectively benefit thousands of Georgians each year.